Spiral Moon Family Circle

Prison Chaplaincy

a bunk bed with striped linen behind bars

You know that old saying that once is chance, twice is coincidence, and three times is a pattern?

Twice in the last month, I’ve been contacted about assisting Pagan prisoners. It was something hanging out on my radar, but not super high up the list…until now.

I’ve reached out to the Pagan Prisoner Resource Center for their assistance. I’ve reached out to the county jail chaplain that an inmate told me he can’t get materials from. And I’ve reached out to the state prison chaplain who is looking for volunteers.

While I’m not sure what direction this is all going, it’s clear to me that it’s a vastly unmet need in our state.

Community Needs

a woman faces the camera. The camera can see the hands and a tablet of the person whose viewpoint we have, and the screen says Survey

A while back, we did a survey asking about what the community wanted and/or needed.

It’s been a while, we’ve had a couple of rough years due to the pandemic, and it seemed like it might be time to get new data. So…Please go fill out our new survey and let’s figure out how to make our community stronger.

Toys for Yule 2023

a scene in front of a fireplace (with pine garlands on the shelf above the fireplace), a decorated evergreen tree, and piles of wrapped gifts.

Once again, we are hosting our annual Toys for Yule event. We will be accepting applications now through December 10th. We will also be seeking shoppers, donations, and delivery drivers.

Last year we helped 2 families, with families getting gift cards for groceries and several gifts per child.

To apply for gifts, please fill out the form.

To donate cash, please visit our Toys for Yule donation page.

If you want to volunteer to spread the word, shop, or deliver gifts, please sign up on our volunteer page.

Thoughts for 2024

We’re thinking about trying something new next year: a monthly “Seeker’s Salon,” consisting of a 2 hour block, part social, part free basic class (think Wicca/Pagan 101 type subjects). If that sounds interesting, please use the poll below to let us know what sorts of topics you’d like to see in these classes.

What topics would you like to see covered in our Seeker's Salon next year?

We’re also planning a major upgrade for the Ostara Eggstravaganza, to include adults & children. We’re planning to open a few vendor slots, we’ll be seeking donations for themed raffle baskets (tickets will be available for purchase online so that all can participate), and we’re hoping to have a seed and seedling/cutting swap. Check out the volunteers link in our menu to volunteer to help!

We’d love to have a community garden, but we would need a space for that – suggestions welcome.

And we’ll be opening an Indiegogo fundraiser in the next few weeks, with an eye towards funding the opening of an actual physical location. We’re hopeful that we’ll raise enough to make that a reality, but if not, we’ll keep looking for other options.

Discord Server

We’ve got forums here on the website for conversations, but with the way most social media is going, someone at Pagan Pride Day suggested that a Discord server might be a good secondary option.

So, with that in mind, we now have a Discord server. Please feel free to join and jump into the conversations there, as well as creating an account here on the website to have community conversations too!

Little Witches Ball 2023

children in halloween costumes - ghost, jack-o-lantern, skeleton, witch, shark, and a dinosaur-like monster

It’s that time again!

We are currently planning for the Little Witches Ball.

Volunteers needed for planning and organizing. Click the link to sign up.

Sponsors also needed. Typically it takes several hundred dollars to put this event on, between food and hall and so on. We want to keep it affordable for families, and sponsors help us do that. Sponsor now!

Poltics and Pagans

Yesterday, we hosted Pagan Pride Day (not affiliated with the Pagan Pride Project) here in metro Detroit. As part of that, we facilitated a discussion around community, and how we make the community stronger. One of the things that came out of that discussion was a discussion on politics.

As a 501(c)3, we are not allowed to endorse any specific candidate or party, and we must be cautious about how we lobby. We have to talk to every candidate, or at least offer them the opportunity to talk to us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t hold opinions, and it doesn’t mean that individual members of our organization can’t speak up about their opinions.

It’s worth noting that while it’s sometimes surprising to Pagans that other Pagans can take almost any political position out there – no matter how far left, right, or center. And we need to be respectful in our community of that diversity.

If you want to contact your elected officials (federal, state, or local), https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials can tell you who they are and provide websites and phone numbers. Most of these websites have contact forms.

If you want to register to vote, https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote has links to your local registration process.

If you want to run for office, there are a number of organizations who help with how to run.

Pagan Pride Day

Green background, gold wheat sheaf on the left, black text that says "Happy Harvest: Pagan Pride 2023"

Pagan Pride Day is coming up August 19th – are you ready?

Help us get the word out, and possibly win a gift card in the process.

The Pagan Pride Day 2023 is a one-day event filled with activities, workshops, performances, and vendors for pagans of all paths and levels of experience. Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or just starting your journey, there is something for everyone at this event.

Mark your calendars and make plans to attend the New Detroit Pagan Pride in Hazel Park, Michigan. This event promises to be a day filled with joy, learning, and connection for pagans of all paths. Embrace the opportunity to celebrate your spirituality in a welcoming and inclusive environment. We look forward to seeing you there!

www.paganpridedetroit.org

Find the Official Facebook Event Here.
https://www.facebook.com/events/180572184799012

School Supply Give Away!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but school is going to start up again soon (we know – we’ve been working on the first year of Spiral Moon Academy‘s full program!). And the beginning of school means shopping for school supplies, and that adds up fast.

Pagan Pride has traditionally included a canned food drive, and here in SE Michigan, we’ve generally supported Pagans In Need, our own food pantry with several chapters in various places throughout the state. This year, in addition to the food, we’d like to collect school supplies, and we will be releasing details of our plan to hand out school supplies soon.

If you’re interested in getting some help with school supplies, please fill out the form and we’ll get you the details as soon as we can!

Spiral Moon TV Updates

It’s been a bit since my last blog post, but we’ve been busy behind the scenes (sometimes literally). We’ve been to Convocation, we’ve been having various chat nights and chat mornings, we’ve completed Toys for Yule and moved on to our Ostara Eggstravaganza. We’ve made keychains that you can tap with your phone to get to our websites (and I ought to add a QR code to the next batch).

But mostly the last few weeks we’ve been hard at work on Spiral Moon TV and getting us where we want to be.

After a few false starts and a few glitches, we’re up and running here on our site, and on Roku. Amazon has been submitted and should be available soon.

We’ve got new live streaming systems in place, and have been “simulcasting” the weekly news report to Facebook and our site, and starting this weekend, we’ll be sending that to our new YouTube channel as well. It’s also being recorded, so you can watch later. This weekend’s board meeting will also be available in several locations.

This will also allow us to cover some of the costs of this endeavor by setting up livestreaming for other organizations. Details to be published soon…

We are always looking for additional content – if you have a video series, or are interested in doing one either recorded ahead of time or live, let’s chat!

And, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that we’re not the first or even the only Pagan TV channel – there’s Pagan World and FringeTV – both are online, and both are on Roku, although you need a code to find Fringe there. And there’s other media sources – International Pagan Radio, Iowa Pagan News Radio, and a number of others (have you ever searched “Pagan Radio” on facebook? It’s fascinating!) We’re always on the lookout for other media outlets that might interest you, so let us know what you find!